Kremlin steps up harassment of Alexei Navalny, Putin’s main rival

Mr Navalny has been jailed for organising a rally and his followers have been beatenYURI SMITYUK/TASS/GETTY IMAGES

Russia’s opposition leader is facing a growing campaign of harassment and intimidation as he prepares to take on President Putin in elections next year.

Activists and volunteers working with Alexei Navalny, 41, have been beaten, detained and threatened with losing their jobs. The lawyer himself was jailed on Monday for 20 days for organising a rally in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 250 miles east of Moscow.

Analysts say the Kremlin is unnerved by Mr Navalny’s rising popularity outside Moscow. He is attempting to force his way on to the March ballot despite threats to exclude him because of a fraud conviction widely seen as fabricated. He has embarked on a series of rallies across the country which have attracted growing crowds.